A Kilkenny man accused of the murder of another man told local gardai that he had struck the victim with a wooden stake because he thought his "life was in danger" while drinking with him in the grounds of a religious college, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
The jury heard that Mr Sean Bambrick (23), of Cypress Green, Loughboy, Kilkenny, had admitted in a statement to gardai that he could not stop himself repeatedly hitting Mr Michael O'Sullivan (44), of no fixed address, on the head and body after the victim revealed he had "fancied" him ever since he saw him.
Mr Bambrick pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr O'Sullivan who was found dead on the grounds of Mill Hill Missionary Fathers, Waterford Road, Kilkenny, at 6.50 a.m. on May 1st last year. "I loved him. He was like a father to me," Mr Bambrick had told gardai after he was arrested at Busaras in Dublin on the evening of the killing, the court was told.
In a statement given to Kilkenny gardai the following night, Mr Bambrick said he had accompanied Mr O'Sullivan to the grounds of St Joseph's after meeting him outside a chip shop in the town, where they had shared a packet of chips. Mr Bambrick stated that he had shouted "Go away, you bastard," after Mr O'Sullivan had made a sexual advance.
"I picked up a stake while he was going to the toilet. I shouted `No bastard will ever do that again'. I struck him over the head with the wooden stake while he was going to the toilet," Mr Bambrick confessed in the statement read out in court yesterday.
The statement referred to "this fellow from Northern Ireland who ruined my life. It happened in Southwick, Brighton. The CID should have a file. I made a complaint against him but I was back in Ireland when the case went to court . . . I didn't mean to hurt or kill Michael O'Sullivan."
After striking the victim, he had then poured cider over him. He had shaken him but he did not move, and he thought he was unconscious. He then returned home and told his father what he had done. His father had told him to call the gardai, but he was too afraid, and went to bed. The next day he took a bus up to Dublin with the intention of getting a ferry to England.
Giving evidence, the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, told the court that the victim had died from asphyxiation caused by an obstruction of blood and a tooth lodged in his oesophagus. The injuries were consistent with either kicking or striking with a wooden stake found beside Mr O'Sullivan's body, which was found lying face down.
Dr Harbison said that in his opinion alcohol intoxication had contributed to the cause of death, through the inhalation of blood "which a normal person would have coughed up".
A post-mortem examination revealed that the cranial cavity was intact and that the brain was not swollen. Mr O'Sullivan's urine had contained 304mg of alcohol, which would have left him "in a fairly staggering state". He estimated the time of death as about 4.30 a.m., give or take two hours.
The court heard from Garda Patrick Ferrig of Store Street Garda station in Dublin that on his arrest at Busaras Mr Bambrick had said "The game is up. You have me for attempted murder", before urinating in his trousers. i had found him, asking if his father had told them.
"There was blood all over the place. I loved him like a father. I gave him my chips," he had said.
Earlier, the court heard how the accused and the victim had been seen outside a chip shop in Kilkenny about 10 p.m. "chatting away goodo", and sharing a packet of curry chips. Ms Mary Barry, of Pinewood Avenue, a neighbour of the accused, said that the two were "definitely drunk".
The court heard that the deceased had left St Canice's Psychiatric Hospital without discharging himself on the morning of his death, where he had been treated for alcohol-related problems. Dr Kieran Cudahy, a retired doctor, told how Mr O'Sullivan had called to his house on the evening of his death, with flowers for his wife.
Dr Cudahy said he had known Mr O'Sullivan for many years. He knew he had been drinking, and asked him if he had been drinking methylated spirits, which Mr O'Sullivan admitted.